Pico Gets Craft Beer to Your Countertop

Love craft beer, but not a fan of going to the store? Pico wants you to embrace that feeling and brew your own craft beers right from your countertop. In 5L mini-keg batches.

You have to love Seattle-based companies. Coffee? Cup, please. Craft beer? Dude, how can we fit a mini-keg in this?

The Pico is the PicoBrew Zymatic in a more manageable size and cost. Think Keurig but for beer. I’m thinking Green Mountain Coffee (parent of Keurig) wishes they had thought of this before single-serve Coca-Cola.

As of today, the company has announced 50 craft breweries have signed on to provide pre-packaged ingredients for the Pico. More are expected to be announced in the future, and the PicoPaks can be purchased from the company’s BrewMarketplace and completely customized.

How Does Pico Work?

It is plug-and-play for craft beer lovers. Toss in a PicoPak and add water. Personalize using the control pad. Brewing takes around two hours. From there it ferments in the mini-keg. Carbonate it overnight and you can impress your friends come gameday.

To celebrate the Kickstarter campaign, PicoBrew is bundling 12 of the most popular PikoPaks to choose from:

Pico Kickstarter

The company has been here before the Zymatic. Unveiling the Pico, the company has cut down the size and more importantly, the cost. To get it in the hands of craft beer lovers, the cost had to be reasonable.

PicoBrew set its funding goal for the Pico at $200,000. The campaign has 35 days to go and is already closing in on $150,000. Brewing mini-kegs of craft beer on your counter? I don’t think it will have an issue cracking the goal with ease.

Pricing? Plenty of early bird specials are available. The $499 price point will get you one Pico and your choice of one PicoBrew Select PicoPaks. At $549, you can get a Pico plus 3 PikoPaks.

Want to try your hand at creating your own PikoPak? The $2,499 Pico Developer Bundle offers a Pico, a Zymatic and a year developers program membership. It would make an excellent gift for any aspiring brewmasters out there.

Shipping on the units is set for March 2016.

Be sure to check out the Kickstarter campaign for more information on the partners PicoBrew has lined up.